


The Price to Pay

by EmeraldTooth



Category: Invader Zim
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Bad Parent Professor Membrane, Family Feels, GET READY FOR ANGST LADS, Gaz needs a hug, Gen, Good Parent Professor Membrane, Guilty Zim (Invader Zim), I both hate and love professor Membrane so I'm gonna hurt him real bad through writing, Illustrations, It has a happy ending I swear, No romantic pairings - Freeform, Non-Graphic Violence, Temporary Character Death, ZADF, ZaGf, but he has a rude awakening and realizes that he's a garbage parent, professor Membrane centric, they be friends
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-09
Updated: 2021-01-24
Packaged: 2021-01-26 11:28:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 15,606
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21373405
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmeraldTooth/pseuds/EmeraldTooth
Summary: He did it. Dib finally had the proof he needed to show the world that he wasn't insane and, most importantly, to make his dad believe in him like he'd always wanted. Too bad he had to pay the ultimate price for it.
Relationships: Dib & Professor Membrane, Dib & Zim (Invader Zim), Gaz & Professor Membrane, Gaz & Zim (Invader Zim), Professor Membrane & Zim
Comments: 58
Kudos: 214





	1. Who to Blame but Me

**Author's Note:**

> I know i have other fics i gotta update, BUT I'M OUT HERE EMBRACING MY 12 YEAR OLD EMO SELF OK!!!! THE INVADER ZIM MOVIE WAS BOMB ASS AWESOME! LET ME LIVE MY BEST LIFE. I'm still working on fics, lads. my motivation comes in spurts.

Professor Membrane was at work when he got the call.

He was close to a breakthrough, when one of his assistants tried to hand him the work phone he kept at his desk as he was flitting about his lab. He refused her at first, waving her away with a, “I’m busy, tell them to call back later.” She was insistent, however, and once the scientist finally looked up from his work to berate her, he was given pause at how spooked she looked. Obviously this wasn’t just yet another company asking for the use of his inventions, or some charity asking for a donation. This was something else. 

Membrane conceded and took the phone from his assistant’s trembling hand. He reluctantly brought it up to his ear, watching as the assistant hurriedly scurried from the room, looking pale and shaky. 

“Hello? Who is this?” He asked, though something told him that he wouldn’t like the answer.

“Hello, Dr. Membrane, this is Detective Anderson with the city police department.” Came a deep, gruff voice over the line.

Membrane frowned and tried to think of anything he’d done that could warrant the police getting involved. “Is this about the cyborg bees? They’ve all been deactivated, I assure you.”

“No, this is a more serious matter, Professor.” Said Detective Anderson. He sounded grave.

Dread slowly crept up Membrane’s spine, chilling his blood. “O-Oh? May I ask what that matter is?”

The detective sighed, his breath crackling over the receiver. “I’m very sorry, but we need you to come down to the station on twenty-fifth. We need you to identify a body we believe to be your son, Dib Membrane.”

The phone fell to the desk with an earth-shaking clatter, and for the first time in many, many years, Professor Membrane left the lab in the middle of the work day with no given explanation.

  
  


* * *

  
  


Hope wasn’t scientific. Wishes weren’t scientific. But for once in his life, Membrane was wishing with his whole being, hoping against hope, that what he’d heard over the phone wasn’t true. It couldn’t be true. He rushed into the police station, repeating a mantra in his head that it wasn’t real, it wasn’t going to be Dib. It wasn’t, it _ couldn’t _ be Dib.

Professor Membrane was good at being ignorant. It might as well be considered one of his many talents. He tended to ignore sound science and facts when they didn’t coincide with his rigid worldview, often to the detriment of others, most notably his children. He’d managed to convince himself that they’d be fine without a reliable parental figure despite the hundreds of studies that told him otherwise. They were smart kids. They could take care of themselves! Though at this very moment, as he stood over the still, lifeless body of his son covered in a white sheet on a cold steel table, all he could think was, _ what did I get Dib for his last birthday? Was I even there for it? ...Has he always been so _small?

Membrane reached out with a trembling hand to touch his son’s pale face. The officer in the room stepped closer, as if to stop him, but decided against it and instead watched silently. Membrane’s fingers brushed through Dib’s hair, while his palm made contact with the boy’s cheek, still soft and round with youth, but cold to the touch even through his thick gloves. People always said that the dead looked like they were only sleeping, and oh, how Membrane wished that were true. Even when resting, Dib was never motionless. He tossed and turned and talked in his sleep, but this… thing on the table wasn’t moving. At all.

This couldn’t be his son. His boundless, energetic son could never be so _ still _. It wasn’t Dib.

But it _ was _.

The moment the reality of the situation hit him full force, Membrane’s head goes quiet. It was unsettling. His brain was always a cacophony of ideas and equations at all hours of the day and often into the night. Now though, everything is silent and fuzzy, like the space between his ears is stuffed with cotton. He vaguely remembered a pair of officers ask him to confirm that body on the table was in fact Dib Membrane. He might have answered them, but he wasn’t sure. Then, he suddenly found himself sitting on a hard chair with a cup of something warm in his gloved hands. He wasn’t in the morgue anymore. He didn’t remember how he got here. 

There was someone quietly talking to him, but he couldn't make out what they were saying. Membrane tried to tune in at some point, but the moment he heard the word ‘impaled’ and the subsequent image that forced upon his mind, he blocked them right back out. His ears were ringing. Suddenly, a phone was brought into his line of sight, obscuring his view of the cup in his hands. It took him a few seconds to recognize the scratched, dirty thing as Dib’s phone. He finally forced himself to pay attention to what is being said as he numbly took the phone from the officer. 

“We found this near the body. It was recording.” Says a young officer. The older gentleman who had led him into the morgue and stayed there with him was nowhere to be found.

Membrane turned the battered device over in his hand, and numbly took in the various torn and peeling stickers that decorated the back. Aliens and ufos and blue eyes. He feels sick.

”We watched the footage, but we can’t make heads or tails of it. We thought- since you’re the world’s leading scientist and the boy’s father- you might know just what it was that he recorded.”

Membrane didn’t want to watch the recording. How could they ask this of him? It had to be unprofessional, against some policy, to ask a grieving father to watch _ footage _ of his son’s last moments.

he really didn’t want to watch. He didn’t. He _ can’t _.

The officer pressed play, taking his continued silence as assent. He didn’t look away.

The footage is dark, shaky. He can hear Dib’s heavy breathing, the crunch of gravel under small shoes as his son runs for his life. There’s the sound of something else, something that’s on more than two legs skittering behind him. The camera jerks suddenly, and Dib lets out a strangled gasp as the phone falls to the ground. There’s a terrible thump as Dib’s body presumably lands beside the fallen phone. He’s making desperate, choked noises- not quite sobs- and each one physically _ tears _ at Membrane’s very soul. There’s a scrabbling sound, and suddenly the phone is being lifted and turned toward the sky, illuminated by the moon and nothing else. There’s a figure backlit by the meager light. Long, spindly limbs that snake across the sky, and big, glowing red eyes.

For a moment the camera is still, and the _ thing _ in the footage just looms there, over his son. His small, young- so painfully young- son. The only sound is that of Dib’s trembling breaths, waiting for something to break the oppressive silence.

Then, there’s a flash of something thin, sharp and metallic. There’s a horrible, sickening sound like tearing- Membrane quickly dropped the phone, and the officer yelped something about preserving evidence but he wasn’t listening.

The professor reached up with a trembling gloved hand and ripped down the collar of his coat, scattering buttons across the room as he made a desperate lunge for the nearest trash can. The room was dead quiet again and the officers watched the once stoic, revered scientist lose his lunch into the tiny waste bin on the floor. His goggles are thrown against the wall a moment later to make way for the tears that are now spilling from his eyes. 

He’s seen that figure. He’s seen that _ thing _ before. Blurry pictures tacked to Dib’s wall. Grainy footage the boy had shown him proudly on the rare moments he was home. It was real. It was all real. And he’d done **nothing** to prevent this unbearable outcome.

No, that wasn’t quite true. He didn’t do nothing. He did much worse. He ignored it all. Buried his head in the sand. belittled his own son at every turn, at every desperate cry for attention.

And that’s what it all was. Cries for attention. Desperate pleas for him to _ listen _ , to believe in Dib not through facts and evidence, but because he was his _ son _ , he was Membrane’s own child and parents were supposed to support their children no matter what. They were supposed to hold them up and encourage them to follow their dreams in healthy, constructive ways. But Dib was gone now. He couldn’t do that the next time the boy came to him with a new theory, a new photo, because he was gone. His son was _ gone _ . He’d died _ alone _ and _ scared _ and believing that his _ own father _ thought he was insane.

Membrane had only a vague recollection of how he got home after that. After his stomach had stopped heaving, he stood up and all but ran from the police station. A few officers tried to stop him, shouting something about more questions, but he was much bigger than they were. Though it was a bit fuzzy, he was sure that he used more force than necessary to push past them. Membrane didn’t feel bad about it. He didn’t feel much of anything.

It seemed as though time had broken, because the next thing the man knew, he was stumbling down the walkway toward his home with no knowledge of how he managed to get there. His legs felt numb. Nothing felt real as he just went through the motions of unlocking the front door and stepping inside.

The moment he passed the threshold, Gaz was there to meet him, leaning against the kitchen table. She looked worried. Membrane’s heart dropped to his stomach. What was he going to tell her? How could he break it to his little girl that Dib was dead? They didn’t show it much, but his children loved each other very deeply. They relied on each other when he wasn’t around, which he was now realizing was nearly all the time. How could he possibly break it to Gaz that the one person she could lean on was just suddenly _ gone _? Before he could even try to speak, Gaz beat him to it and started talking.

“Dib didn’t come home last night.”

That gave Membrane pause. Last night? It was well into the afternoon now. Did it really happen that long ago? Did he really not know where one of his children was for that long? Of course he didn’t. He wasn’t home. Not this morning, not last night, not the day before. He was _ never _ home.

Gaz opened her mouth to continue when he didn’t respond, but stopped and closed it. She studied her father with narrowed eyes, taking in his disheveled appearance. She scrutinized his missing goggles, torn collar, bloodshot eyes with slowly dawning horror and understanding. Gaz closed her eyes and her whole body slumped as if it suddenly carried the weight of the world. 

“He’s gone... isn’t he?” She whispered brokenly.

Tears glimmered at the corners of the girl’s tightly shut eyes and she gave a heart-wrenching little sob. Membrane made a choked sound of shock and took a step forward, as if to run to his usually stoic daughter’s side and pull her close, but then she opened her eyes again and pinned him with a look so cold that he froze in his tracks.

“I told him. I _ told _ him that he’d get himself killed going after all those goddamn monsters. I told him that it wasn’t worth it. I TOLD HIM!” Gaz screamed, hands balled up into shaking fists at her sides. She looked away, and Membrane was spared the burns her gaze inflicted on his soul. “I told him that it wouldn’t work. No matter what he discovered, what he collected, IT WOULDN’T WORK!”

Membrane’s heart was pounding. Ice was filling his veins. Gaz pinned him once again with a cold glare.

“He never stopped. He said he’d never stop until-“ Her words choked off in a tiny sob that tore at Membrane’s very being. Gaz sucked in a shaking breath, her eyes practically blazing. “You know what he told me? You know what he said, _ dad _?” She hissed venomously.

“Gaz... don’t.” The professor whispered, voice trembling.

He didn’t want to hear this, but Gaz looked him in the eye and showed him no mercy.

“He said... _ maybe he’ll believe me when I’m dead _.”

Silence filled the kitchen for a few beats that felt like an eternity. Gaz’s words rang in Membrane’s ears, undeniable. He couldn’t bury his head in the sand this time. This was his reality. The ice in his veins crept toward his heart, and the physical pain he felt was unbearable.

Unflinching in the wake of his anguish, Gaz continued, “And even now, you probably still think he was insane-“

“_No! _ ” Membrane shouted, voice choked and cracking with emotion. “No, don’t say that. I don’t think that! H-He was right! I believe him- _ I do! _” He sounded desperate for her to believe him. The irony wasn’t lost on either Membrane.

Gaz was silent for a moment, just gazing at her father with teary eyes that glinted with cold steel. “It's a little late for that now though, isn’t it, dad?” She was trembling with rage and grief, fists clenched at her sides and tears streaming down her cheeks. Her breaths hitched just slightly with suppressed sobs, and Membrane was suddenly painfully aware of how young his daughter was.

God, his kids were so young. Gaz was just a little girl, no matter how tough and grown up she tried to act, and Dib was only twelve. He was just a small child who felt as though he had to go out and put himself in grave danger just to prove himself to his only parent. And it got him killed. He wasn’t even a teen. He was _ twelve fucking years old. _

“You… you’re right, Gaz…” Membrane whispered quietly. The man gave a broken, watery sob and reached up to cover his eyes with one hand while the other balled into a shaking fist, gloves creaking at the strain. “It’s too late. I should have listened. I should have supported him. I should have been there for you both. Maybe if I had- maybe if I just listened, then… then maybe this wouldn’t have happened. It’s all my fault.” The man made an awful keening sound, like his very soul was escaping along with his tears. He clutched his hands over his face as if he could hide from the harsh reality he found himself in. His knees buckled, and he only barely caught himself with one arm against the kitchen floor. His broad shoulders quaked with the weight of his grief and emotional agony.

“_This is all my _**_fault_**!” The man screamed into his palm, his anguished voice only slightly muffled by the rubbery material, already slick with tears. “He’s gone, Gaz! M-My little boy, my son… _He’s_ **_fucking gone!_**”

Gaz’s eyes widened and she took a step back away from her hysterical father in shock. She didn’t expect him to break down like that. The girl instantly felt guilty for throwing so much into her dad’s face. He was hurting just as much as she was. She just didn't know how to handle the situation emotionally. She was in so much pain, and she needed someone to lash out at, and it just so happened that her dad was a convenient outlet.

“Dad…” Gaz murmured softly, breath hitching with a little hiccup-sob. She quietly stepped closer to her crying parent. Even kneeling hunched over on the floor, he was taller than her. He always seemed larger than life to Gaz. He was unflappable, invulnerable to her, but seeing him now, crying on the kitchen floor, she knew that she couldn’t hold him to those standards. Not now.

“Dad-“ Gaz’s tears came faster now, and her trembling grew more pronounced. She dropped to her knees and shuffled close to her father. The little girl ducked under the man’s arms and burrowed her way to his chest where she curled up, digging her fingers into his lab coat.

“I didn’t mean it, dad! I’m- I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean it!” Gaz wailed into Membrane’s chest. Her tiny body shook with her cries as she clutched desperately to her father.

Membrane wrapped his arms around his daughter and held her tight. he pressed his face into her purple hair, uncaring if his tears saturated the soft locks. In that moment, she was his lifeline. His rock amidst a typhoon, keeping him from being swept away in his grief and anguish. He dearly hoped that he was grounding her to earth as well, for he had no words of comfort to offer her.

The two last remaining Membranes stayed like that for a long time, clinging to one another until the tears ran out, and even for a long while after. They found the slightest bit of comfort in the presence of the other, but the awareness that one was missing loomed over them like a reaper. Silence reigned, stifling and cold.

“...do you remember when I convinced Dib that the bathroom was haunted?” Gaz suddenly said softly, breaking the oppressive quiet.

Membrane gave a sad, watery little chuckle. “He spent the night in the bathtub, didn’t he?”

Gaz nodded against her dad’s chest. “Yeah. It was hilarious. He practically dragged his whole bed into the tub. He sat up all night with that dumb EMF reader he made himself.” 

The professor chuckled again, just a little more genuine this time. “He was so mad at you when he found out that you lied. He didn’t talk to you for a week.” 

Gaz smiled a little and nodded, sniffling. She heaved a sad sigh and snuggled closer to her dad, who gave her a little comforting squeeze. They were quiet again for a few moments.

“So, do they know what… did him in?” She asked in a quiet, scared voice.

Membrane hesitated in answering. Should he saddle his young daughter with such knowledge? It was bad enough that she knew Dib was dead, but that was unavoidable. This, however, she didn’t have to know. Though, knowing Gaz, she’d find out one way or another. She wouldn’t appreciate being lied to.

The man moved one hand to rest on the girl’s upper back where he began to rub soothing circles. “I think… I think it was that… alien. Zim, I think its name was.” Membrane felt a pang in his heart and his eyes stung anew. Dib had told him countless things about the alien, and yet he was unsure what its _ name _ was. Was he really that inattentive? Could he really remember so little from his son’s passionate reports? Oh, what he wouldn’t give to hear his boy ramble on about ghosts and cryptids one more time. 

Membrane was pulled from his depressing musings by Gaz, who startled and pulled slightly out of his embrace so she could look up at him. Her bloodshot eyes were wide and confused.

“Z-Zim? But, that can’t be true! Dib and Zim had a truce! How can you be sure?” She asked, voice shaking the slightest bit.

Membrane was surprised to hear that. A truce? But Dib had spoken of Zim with such hatred before. _ That _ he could remember. 

“The police found his phone, and it was recording a video. I’m sure that’s who I saw in it. Dib has pictures of Zim all over his room. The thing in the video had big red eyes and spider-like legs. I’m sure that’s who did it.”

Gaz’s brows furrowed. She looked frustrated and angry. “But- Zim was here this morning. He showed up and asked if Dib was home. He left as soon as I said he wasn’t home yet. Why would he do that?” She turned her eyes up at her father as if he would have the answer. He didn’t.

Membrane clenched his jaw and gripped Gaz just a bit tighter, furious at the thought that the thing that took his son from him was at his house, talking to his daughter. What if he’d lost both of his children to that monster? The very idea was unbearable. He was torn from his dark thoughts when Gaz began trembling again. He looked down and saw her pressed close to his chest again, tears glimmering at the corners of her tightly closed eyes.

“I-it doesn’t make sense. Zim- Zim wouldn’t- he wouldn’t go that far! Why would he- _ how _ could he do this? I don’t understand, I thought he was getting better!” Gaz gasped, clutching tight to her father’s coat as she began to cry again.

Membrane’s heart hurt at seeing his daughter so upset. He gathered her close and rocked her back and forth gently. “Shhh, honey. He won’t get away with it. I won’t let him.” He told her, voice taking on a hard edge. “Now, I need you to be strong for a moment, Gaz. I need you to do something for me.”

Gaz shakily nodded her head, but didn’t move from her curled position against him. Membrane began rubbing soothing circles into her back again and braced himself for what he was about to ask of his daughter.

“I need you to tell me about Zim.” The professor said, voice steely as he glared across the kitchen, out the window where he could see the sun setting over the neighborhood. Out there, the monster that killed his son continued to breathe. He’d have to rectify that.

“Tell me _ everything _.”


	2. Retribution

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Professor Membrane is on the warpath, but there just might be a light at the end of this tunnel.
> 
> alternate summary: Zim cries, Gaz cries, Membrane gets roasted again, also cries. Everyone cries.  
(Warning for out of character Zim. He's a bit hysterical. Also writing Zim is hard. LET HIM HAVE ACTUAL EMOTIONS. LET HIM BE SOFT.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tfw you intend to write a two-shot but then chapter two ends up being almost three times the length of chapter one and YOU'RE STILL NOT DONE AAAAA. So yeah. this fic will have 3 chapters now hahahahahahahaha rip.

_ Everything Dib has told you about Zim is likely true. _

Gaz’s words echoed through Membrane’s head as he strode down the sidewalk toward the odd little house at the end of a cozy cul-de-sac. He wouldn’t let her come with him. He didn’t want his now only child in any sort of danger. 

_ He’s an actual alien from space, sent here to take over the earth. The only person standing in his way was Dib. Dib has single-handedly saved the earth on more than one occasion. _

The scientist barely spared a glance at the strange decorations that littered the yard. Lawn gnomes followed his every move with their unsettling eyes as he came up to the door, but they remained where they were, unmoving.

_ Don’t let his size fool you, Zim is ruthless, and much stronger than he looks. He’s a genius in his own right, but his ego often causes his downfall. _

He could feel his prosthetic arms hum with energy, itching to release an unmerciful blast of plasma at a worthy target.

_ The thing you need to watch out for most are the weapons he keeps in his PAK, the little metal dome on his back. He has a pair of laser cannons, and razor sharp extendable legs to make up for his height. _

Membrane paused before the door and took a deep breath. He had to go in there with a level head, despite the burning rage that filled his veins like molten metal. The little beast could gain the upper hand in this fight if he were too blinded by his grief.

_ Dad… I know what you’re thinking. Just… please, promise me you won’t kill him. Promise me. _

Membrane steeled himself and raised a fist to bash the door in. “That’s not a promise I can keep, Gaz.” 

The man squared his shoulders and planted his feet firmly to deliver a devastating blow to the sturdy metal door before him. His punch sailed well past the door, which turned out to be unlocked and unlatched, and took the rest of him with it. Membrane fell to the floor just inside the base with a grunt and a muted feeling of embarrassment that only served to fuel his rage. The door banged against the wall, but other than it’s echo, the house was silent. Membrane pushed himself to his feet, adjusting his spare goggles, and gazed around warily.

The base was dark. The few windows he could see were shuttered, but the thick cables that snaked their way up into the ceiling gave off an ominous pink glow that he could see by. Aside from the wires, the house looked almost normal in an unsettling way. Membrane guessed that this was a farce to hide the rest of the base. Gaz mentioned a lab. The alien must be hiding there. He just had to find a way in. Membrane walked around the living room, scrutinizing everything that could possibly be a secret entrance. His search came up with nothing, and he moved on to the kitchen.

The first thing he saw was a pile of mangled, twisted metal in the corner. Upon further inspection, Membrane realized that they looked kind of like the spider legs Gaz described, but bent into all sorts of jagged shapes. The tip of one razor-sharp leg had something rusty brown flecked over the shiny metal. Membrane looked away quickly and continued his search, feeling sick, but still wondering idly what could have possibly bent them so irreparably to the point where Zim had to take them off.

The scientist’s search continued to turn up fruitless, and he began to get desperate. He rummaged through the cupboards and drawers, but found nothing other than a disturbing amount of mostly-empty peanut butter jars. He ran his hands along the walls, searching for a hidden button or panel. He even flushed the odd toilet in the corner, but nothing happened.

“Where are you, you little monster!?” Membrane shouted, and smashed his fist against the kitchen table just so he could hear it bang loudly against the wall. It didn’t help. His eyes stung with frustrated tears under his goggles, and he reached up to wipe at them aggressively.

“If you don’t show yourself, I’ll blast this place apart until I find you,” Membrane growled lowly. He clenched his fists and heard the subtle whine of his energy cannons warming up. He would take the house apart piece by piece if he had to.

He was near ready to blast a hole through the wall when he heard a quiet whirring. Membrane froze, and listened intently to pinpoint where the sound was coming from. He slowly turned toward the small trash can that stood innocuous where the cupboards ended. As the sound grew louder, the top of the trash can flipped up and out popped Zim. He wasn’t in his disguise, and Membrane saw him for the alien he was for the first time.

_ This _ was what killed his son? This tiny creature? It stood barely higher than Membrane’s knees. He could probably wrap his hand entirely around the thing’s chest and crush its rib cage with no effort at all. How could something so small be such a global threat? Yet, what he saw in that video, and the warning Gaz gave him told him otherwise. This little alien was a monster. It was evil, and it murdered a child in cold blood. Membrane wouldn’t underestimate Zim. If any of the things he could remember Dib telling him about the alien were true, then he was extremely dangerous to an apocalyptic degree.

The moment Zim’s feet touched the kitchen floor, he turned to stare up at Membrane with huge, unnerving red-magenta eyes. The little creature blinked, but otherwise didn’t react to the presence of a human intruding on his domain. In fact, he seemed a little lethargic. Still, the sight of those eyes, practically glowing like they did in that horrible video, filled Membrane with unadulterated rage unlike anything he had ever previously felt.

“Ah…” Zim finally spoke, his grating voice quiet and subdued. “I was expecting the Gaz-Beast, not you. It’s no matter, I suppose. I know what you’ve come here to do. But before you do that, I have-“

Zim’s words were cut off with a shriek when a blue beam of pure plasma ripped through the wall just behind where he was standing. His quick reflexes were the only thing that saved him from being vaporized, and he stared at the gaping hole in his base with wide, frightened eyes. Zim’s gaze darted back to Membrane, who was shaking with rage, metal arm raised and smoking with bits of ruined lab coat. Zim’s eyes widened even more when the man raised the other arm and the telltale whine of the cannon pierced the air.

“W-Wait! _ Wait _!” Zim gasped, scrambling to his feet and leaping out of the way of yet another blast.

“_ You killed my son, you son of a bitch! _” Membrane practically roared, twisting around to follow the speedy alien as he scrambled around the room, trying to avoid the scientist’s rapid fire energy blasts.

“Zim didn’t mean to- ah!“ Zim yelped in pain when one ray of plasma grazed his leg, but didn’t falter in his fleeing and instead dashed into the living room and out of Membrane’s sight. 

“Get back here you little _ bastard! _” The raging scientist snarled, lunging for the retreating figure as it darted around the corner.

“Computer, protect your master!” Zim shouted at the ceiling before diving behind the couch just as Membrane came barreling into the living room.

“_ But you said _-“

“Override! I refuse to die before I complete my mission!” Zim interrupted, breathless and trembling behind the large piece of furniture.

Membrane aimed his palm toward the couch, ready to release another devastating beam of energy, when several cables dropped from the ceiling and snaked around his arms, yanking them away from the couch and directing the blast upward instead. Waning sunlight streamed through the gaping hole it tore into the ceiling. Before he could try to pull his arms out of their binds, more dropped from above and wrapped around Membrane’s waist, lifting him up off the floor to suspend him in the air. He thrashed uselessly against them, practically foaming at the mouth as he snarled expletives. His canons only created more holes in the ceiling, and any cables the blasts severed were quickly replaced with more.

Zim’s head popped into view from behind the couch, but he was reluctant to leave his shelter just yet, “Membrane-Father! Listen to Zim!” The little alien shouted up at the struggling human. “You’re making a mistake! You must calm down!”

Membrane saw red. “Calm down?! Fucking ** _calm down?!_ ** I’m going to put so many holes in you, there won’t be anything left to dissect!” He spat venomously.

Zim shrank down, once again mostly hidden by the couch. “He isn’t listening, computer! What do I do?! How do I make him listen?” 

“_ I don’t think he _ will _ listen, sir. He’s too far gone for rational thought. _” Came the computer’s reply.

Zim stared up at the violently thrashing human for a moment, deliberating. His computer was right, of course. The usually level-headed human scientist was acting like a feral animal. “That leaves me no choice,” The alien said solemnly. “Administer sedatives.”

Membrane’s furious gaze abruptly returned to Zim upon hearing the word ‘sedatives’. Zim could practically feel those eyes burning behind his goggles. The man’s struggles increased, as if he’d found a second wind, and his frantic energy blasts became more deliberate, cutting down the AI-controlled cables with deadly accuracy. Zim squeaked in fright and hid behind the couch completely.

“Computer, hurry!”

Membrane saw a thin, glowing wire snake down toward him from the writhing mass of cables in the ceiling. It ended in a wickedly long needle, and he could infer that it was meant to sedate him with some alien chemical concoction Zim cooked up. Membrane snarled and spat like a coyote caught in a trap, seconds from gnawing its own leg off. He couldn’t let the little green bastard win! He would likely run some deadly, diabolical experiment on him as soon as he was under the unknown chemical’s effects. He refused to leave Gaz all alone in the world.

In a last-ditch effort to free himself, Membrane poured all of his strength into pulling his arms together. Though he wasn’t strong enough to force them down to get a shot at the hiding alien, he did the next best thing he could think of. With one last strained shout, he was able to connect his palms above his head, despite the computer’s best efforts, and his cybernetic arms gave a loud protesting whine as he maxed out the energy cannons’ power into a single, massive blast.

A deafening boom shook the house, as the entire top of the building was ripped apart by a huge beam of blue plasma. Debris rained down on the living room floor in the form of twisted metal, all red hot and smoking. Membrane was finally dropped from the computer’s hold as every single one of its appendages were vaporized or severed from their connection to the AI. 

The house hadn’t even stopped shaking before Membrane took his chance and charged up a smaller blast. The large couch exploded much less spectacularly, but it still obliterated the obstacle from his intended target. Zim lay buried under a pile of flaming cloth and wood debris, groaning lowly and attempting to stand. Before he could right himself, he was being yanked violently from the pile and slammed against the wall. 

Zim let out a startled yell, but quickly fell quiet when he registered Membrane’s furious face mere inches in front of his own. He could feel the heat of the man’s gaze behind those glinting goggles and his heavy breathing warm against his skin. The flat metal forearm of Membrane’s cybernetic arm pressed harshly against Zim’s neck and chest, compressing his PAK painfully against his spine as it dug into the wall behind him.

The little alien scrabbled at the arm with his claws, but it would not budge. Another thing he hated about being so small on a planet full of creatures that grew up tall and strong was that without his PAK, he only had the average strength of an adult human. Zim’s breathing picked up in pace when he remembered that he’d removed his PAK legs, so he really _ was _ without his PAK in this situation. He had no way to escape.

“L-listen to Zim, Membrane-human.” Zim implored, voice desperate and cracking. “I-I know what I did was wrong! Z-Zim is regretful! Really, I am! Bu-but I can fix this!” 

Zim knew that he’d said the wrong thing when Membrane grit his teeth in a furious snarl and pushed harder against his small chest, making the little alien wheeze at the pain of his ribs compressing. There was movement in the corner of Zim’s gaze, and he turned his head just as the telltale mechanical whine of Membrane’s arm cannon pierced the air. The glowing metal palm was mere inches from the side of his head. Zim could feel the heat of the building plasma. The blue electric discharge crackling menacingly along the metal fingers smelled strongly of ozone. 

“_ Fix _ it?!” Membrane raged, his voice unbearably loud this close to Zim’s uncovered antennae. “You _ killed Dib! _ You murdered my son! You can’t _fix_ that!”

Zim cried out and shook his head from side to side frantically. “No! No, Zim promises that he can fix it. He swears! Please, _ please _ don’t kill me! I can’t fix it if you kill me!” The alien pleaded. 

Strange, viscous pink tears welled in his large eyes and spilled down his cheeks. His chest hitched with a sob under Membrane’s metal arm, but the scientist didn’t falter. He moved his charging cannon closer to the alien’s head, making Zim flinch away, and the whine of the building energy grew louder.

“I’m not listening to a word you say, you little _ monster _ .” Membrane hissed lowly. “My son is _ gone _ because of you, and no lie you can tell could stop me from killing you, so save your breath.”

The blue glow of the energy cannon grew brighter, ready to fire, glinting off Zim’s tears and reflecting in his wide magenta eyes. The little alien shut them tight and turned away with a whimper as the mechanical whine reached its crescendo.

“_ Dad, stop! _”

Membrane choked on a gasp and quickly cut power to his arm. He dropped it away from his captive, though he kept firm contact with the arm holding Zim to the wall, and turned around to face who spoke. Gaz stood in the open doorway, silhouetted by the meagre light of twilight. She looked furious, practically shaking with anger. 

Damn. Why was she here? He told her to stay home! He couldn’t kill Zim with her to witness it, he wouldn’t traumatize his child like that. He had to get her to leave somehow.

“Gazlene, you shouldn’t be-“ Membrane started, But was cut off by Zim.

“Gaz-beast, help Zim!” The alien shouted desperately, reaching a tiny clawed hand out toward her. “Your parent is going to kill me!” 

Gaz’s furious gaze turned to him. He quickly pulled his hand back as if burned at the sight of the agony in her eyes. Membrane glared at the alien and pressed him hard against the wall again, as if to remind him that he was still trapped.

“Don’t talk to my daughter, you pitiful cockroach.” He hissed, getting back into Zim’s personal space.

“Dad,” came Gaz’s stern voice again. She walked closer to the two, face impassive, but eyes ablaze. “Let him go.”

Membrane’s mouth fell agape in shock. “Wh-What?!” He choked out. “Gaz, you can't be serious! This thing killed your brother! It doesn't deserve to live!”

Gaz flinched, and Membrane immediately felt guilty for bringing up Dib. The girl took a deep breath before looking past her father, at Zim. The alien wasn’t looking at her, instead he hung his head in shame under her gaze.

“I know he killed Dib.” She said, voice loud as a gunshot in the ruined base. Zim flinched. “But… I need to know _ why _ .” She stared intensely at the alien, and captured his gaze the moment he glanced up. He couldn’t look away. “I thought you were getting better, Spacebug. You swore that you were trying to change, that you would stop hurting the world. So _ why did you kill Dib _, Zim?” She whispered, though they could both hear her clearly, quiet as they were.

Zim made a few choked noises as he attempted to speak in his own defense, but nothing comprehensible came forth. He fell silent after a moment, head falling forward in defeat as his body trembled in Membrane’s hold. Then, suddenly, the alien let out an anguished, mournful wail that pierced the silence. It was intense and haunting, so full of pain and grief. Membrane was so startled by the sound that he jerked away, unintentionally allowing Zim to wriggle out of his grip. The alien gracelessly fell to the floor, but was quick to recover and scramble toward Gaz. 

Membrane tensed, and prepared to leap to his daughter’s defense, but stopped short when Zim fell to his knees before the girl. He gazed up at her with wide eyes that shone with tears, begging for absolution. He trembled with suppressed sobs as he offered Gaz his three-fingered hands in an odd gesture of surrender.

“Zim is sorry!” The alien cried. “Z-Zim is so, so _ sorry! _” 

Gaz simply stared down at Zim, expression cold and closed off, waiting. The small creature heaved a painful-sounding sob and shuffled closer to her. He pressed his forehead against her legs, like a dog begging to be pet, antennae trembling where they were pressed flat against his head.

“Zim didn’t mean to! It was an accident! _ An accident! _ I-I didn’t want to hurt Dib, but I couldn’t control myself! It happened so fast, a-and I didn’t realize that he was so hurt…” Zim made an awful keening noise deep in his throat and clutched at the material of Gaz’s pants with shaking claws. “Zim is ** _sorry_ **!”

Membrane watched in confusion as Gaz slowly lowered herself to the floor with Zim. The alien had stopped speaking English at that point, instead he hysterically babbled in what Membrane could only assume was his native language. His babbling abruptly cut off when Gaz placed her hand on his head and pushed him away. The alien held his breath, and hesitantly looked up to make eye contact with Gaz, body still trembling slightly, as if afraid of her. 

“Zim, you need to calm down,” The youngest Membrane told him firmly, though her gaze was less steely. “Take a deep breath, okay Spacebug? I won’t let Dad kill you. Just… calm down and tell me what happened that night.”

Zim took a shuddering breath and nodded. He opened his mouth to speak when Membrane chose that moment to interject.

“Gaz, you can’t seriously be asking him that!” Membrane said, taking an aggressive step closer. Zim flinched but didn’t try to move away from Gaz, who shuffled just a mite closer to him, as if to protect him. It made Membrane seethe. “This is obviously an act! He’s a conniving, evil, murdering alien and we can’t trust anything he says. I may not remember it all, but I do remember Dib telling me that much!”

Gaz narrowed her eyes and abruptly stood from her crouched position by Zim. She growled low in her throat before jabbing her finger at Membrane. “_ You _ don’t get to tell me what Dib said. I’ve always listened to him, you _ never _ did! I _ know _ what he’s said about Zim,” The girl’s eyes glimmered with barely held back tears as she glared at her father, trembling with rage. “But do _ you _ remember the last time Dib told you about Zim’s latest plot to destroy the world? Do _ you _ remember the last time he tried to expose Zim as an alien to you?!” 

Membrane opened his mouth to retort, but paused. He thought back, and found that Gaz was right. He couldn’t remember any recent reports of the supernatural from Dib. In fact, Dib had become quite secretive about his ‘hobby’ in recent memory. Whenever Membrane asked him where he was going when he caught him sneaking off at night, Dib would avoid the question or just say that he was going to hang out with a friend. At the time, Membrane was just so happy that Dib seemed to be doing ‘normal’ things a kid would do for once that he didn’t even stop to think about how unusual the change was.

Gaz, seeing her father’s look of realization, continued. “Of course you don’t.” She spat bitterly. “Dib and Zim made a deal _ months _ ago. They stopped fighting. We even started hanging out. Turns out when he’s not being a megalomaniac, Zim can be good company. You’ve seen us before, dad. You came home late one night and we were all playing video games in the living room. You even said hi to Zim. That was a _ week _ ago, dad! You always forget things when it’s convenient to you! Why do you never remember things when it comes to us? Is it… is it just easier to forget that we exist?” The girl’s voice petered off into a broken whisper at the end.

Gaz was looking at Membrane with a lost, hurt expression. The tears she tried valiantly to hold back spilled, and she reached up with trembling hands to aggressively wipe them away before pinning her distressed father with another glare.

“Was that your plan? Come here, kill Zim without letting him speak in his own defense, then what? Come home and just _ forget _ Dib ever existed? Let things go back to how they were before because you’re too stubborn to change?” Gaz’s whole body was shaking with anger and hurt, but she stood tall and determined. Determined to make her father _ see _. To understand for once in his life. 

Membrane made another half-aborted step closer, a wounded noise escaping him at seeing his daughter so upset for the second time that day. This time because of _ him _. “No, of course not, Gaz! You know I would never do that.” He implored.

Gaz’s glare didn’t falter. If anything, she only became angrier. “_ Do I _, dad? Do I know you wouldn’t do that?! How could I? You’re never home! I hardly even know who you are!” She was yelling now, eyes closed tightly against her tears and her clenched fists shaking with rage. For once in his life, Membrane was speechless.

Behind Gaz, Zim made a distressed noise and left the shelter she provided so he could stand at her side. He reached up with one tiny, gloved hand and hovered it over her face, as if he wanted to wipe away her tears. The little alien made an odd, inhuman cooing sound from deep in his chest and instead placed the hand on Gaz’s back and began petting her awkwardly.

“Gaz-sister,” he murmured quietly. “Please stop leaking your disgusting sadness fluids. It will be okay. Zim can fix this, he promises.” Zim bumped the top of his head under Gaz’s chin, like an affectionate cat. He didn’t even move away when his skin was slightly burned by her tears.

Membrane watched the alien who murdered his son attempt to comfort his daughter. Why was it doing that? _ He _ should be the one comforting Gaz, but for some reason he just couldn’t move. Gaz’s words rang in his ears still. No matter how much he wanted to deny it, no matter how much it hurt, they were true. He didn’t know how to deal with his emotions in a healthy way. Whenever he was stressed, he worked, whenever he had time to relax, he worked. It was a vicious cycle. Gaz was right to wonder if he’d just bury himself in his work like always once he’d had his revenge against Zim, because it was accurate. Even if he killed Zim, Dib would still be dead, and he would still have to face the fact that he practically drove his own son into harm’s way. There was no way that he wouldn’t become overwhelmed and end up neglecting Gaz, and this time it would be worse on her because Dib wouldn’t be there to be a stand-in parent to her.

God, Dib was more of a father to Gaz than _ he _ was. That realization struck Membrane deep. It was a sharp, stabbing pain in his heart to realize the full extent of his own failure not only as a parent, but as a _ human being _. 

Heedless of the elder Membrane’s mental breakdown, Zim continued to make oddly soothing clicks and coos that sounded like they belonged to an animal rather than a person. They did help, though, and Gaz eventually calmed enough to push Zim away, if only to spare him from more of her acidic tears. Zim reluctantly stepped back and rubbed at his light burns absently as he stared up at her with wide, glistening red eyes.

Gaz took a shuddering breath and gave Zim a pitiful, wobbly little smile. “I’m okay, bug.” She said softly. “I knew this would happen someday. Dib never really had any sense of self-preservation, and he always went for the most dangerous monsters. It was bound to happen.” Gaz sniffled and rubbed at her eyes. “I just… I just didn’t think it would be _ you _. Not after you made that promise.” 

Zim hunched in on himself and averted his eyes, antennae pressed firmly to his skull, the ends trembling with emotion. Gaz reached out and patted the alien’s head once. “Don’t worry, I know you wouldn’t just hurt Dib like this out of the blue.” She said.

Zim looked up, eyes wide and wild. “No! Of course I wouldn’t! It was an accident!” He gasped.

Gaz nodded at him and held out her hands placatingly before he could become hysterical again. “I know, Zim. I just need to know _ why _. You said it was an accident, but how did it happen?” She asked urgently. “Take a deep breath and walk me through it.”

Zim nodded jerkily and sucked in a trembling breath. He glanced over at Membrane nervously, but the man was just standing there, watching them. He could feel the scientist’s gaze bore into him. Zim hoped that what he had to say wouldn’t set the scary human off again.

“Last night, Zim got a text from Dib.” Zim began quietly. He flinched when Membrane moved closer, but he seemed to only do so to hear better. Zim nervously continued, “He asked me to meet him in the park. When I got there, Dib was very emotional, angry, mostly. He said something about Skool, and I think he mentioned your father-unit, too, but he was blubbering and Zim could hardly understand him.” Zim paused and looked down at his claws before balling them into shaking fists. “He… wanted to fight. Said something about releasing steam. Zim refused.” The alien looked up, eyes darting from Gaz to Membrane, wide and glimmering with tears. “Zim tried to get him to go home, really! We swore off our rivalry, but he suddenly wanted to fight like we used to. If he could call off the truce so suddenly for no reason, what was stopping him from trying to expose me again? I told him no, and he got mad… really mad…” 

Zim pulled his knees to his chest and wrapped his arms around them. He was trembling and staring straight ahead, eyes glazed and unseeing. “Dib started to… say things about Zim. Awful things. He reminded me that my whole race hates me and I will never be allowed to return home. He... He called Zim defective. It hurt. I trusted Dib, but he was suddenly saying the things that I’ve heard my whole life, but never from him.” the alien choked on a little sob and scrubbed at his teary eyes with trembling hands. “Zim knows now that Dib was only trying to rile him up, to make him fight... And it worked.” 

Zim’s shaking became full-body tremors, and his grip on his knees became painful. His claws dug into the strange material of his leggings but didn’t pierce them, luckily. Even as the alien continued speaking, the humans could hear him making strange, distressed chittering sounds between words, as if he were struggling to continue speaking English. 

“Zim… doesn’t know what happened. Maybe some protective protocol was activated, or maybe Zim’s PAK malfunctioned, but I physically cannot remember what happened past a certain point after I got upset.” Zim whispered hoarsely. “The next thing I remember, it was nearly morning and I was back at my base, but I couldn’t remember how or why I was home. I thought nothing of it. I’ve had blackouts before; it comes with having a… _ broken PAK _.” Zim spat venomously. “Even though I couldn’t remember anything, Zim had… a bad feeling. I went back to the park, but when I got there, there were police everywhere, so I couldn’t get very close, but I didn’t see Dib. The terrible feeling grew worse.” Zim’s eyes finally moved from where they stared unseeing at the wall to gaze up at Gaz with a lost look on his face. “That’s why Zim went to the Membrane house this morning. I had to know if Dib made it home safe. When you said that he never came back… Zim knew something terrible happened. I ran home, and hooked my PAK up to my computer, and had to manually extract the memories that I couldn’t access. When I saw… when I saw what happened… when I- when Dib-“ Zim’s voice cracked, and his words fell away into a pitiful sob. “Zim is guilty!” He wailed. The little alien buried his face into his knees and reached his shaking hands up to grip his antennae. He pulled at the sensitive stalks harshly as he let out a high, raspy sort of wail that sounded just inhuman enough to unsettle both Membranes as they witnessed his confession.

“Zim _ murdered _ his best friend!” 

Silence reigned over the room after that admission. Zim trembled, looking small and helpless on the floor before the two humans in his ruined base, waiting for retribution. They just stared down at him, shocked.

After a few moments of continued silence, Zim chanced a glance up at the two humans, eyes wide and glistening with tears. He saw the state the two were in, Gaz clinging to her father’s leg as she cried with one of his metal hands petting her hair, and Membrane standing tall and stiff as a board, goggles pushed up into his hair to make way for his tears. His amber-brown eyes were steely, and still glinted with rage aimed at Zim, but he also looked conflicted, frustrated. They were both so hurt, torn up and broken by Dib’s death. Zim caused that, he was to blame.

Zim whimpered, his chest felt tight and his eyes stung with a fresh wave of tears. The alien uncurled from his fetal position, and instead bowed low in front of Membrane, forehead pressed to the debris-littered floor, splayed hands palm up and stretched out toward the tall human in that odd gesture of surrender he’d shown Gaz earlier. The man was sure that the position was significant in some way to Zim’s species, but he was at a loss as to what he should do in response.

“I know what I did is inexcusable. I will accept any punishment you see fit for me; my creations won’t stop you this time.” Zim’s voice trembled with fear, but he sounded sincere. He raised his head just enough to look at Membrane’s boots but didn’t try to make eye contact. “I know that I’m just a defective fuck-up who can’t do anything right, but please- please let Zim fix this. Let me atone. I swear on the cosmos that I _ will _ bring Dib back. After that… you can do whatever you wish to Zim.” The little alien pressed his head against the floor again and fell silent. His whole body trembled with emotions still foreign to him.

Gaz felt the tiniest stirrings of hope flare in her heart and she looked up at her father imploringly, but his attention wasn’t on her. Professor Membrane was still staring silently down at Zim. He looked conflicted, but she could tell that he still very much wanted to blast Zim to pieces rather than let him live. Just a few hours ago, she would have agreed with him, but after her dad had left their house to find Zim, she let herself think it over.

Over the past half year since Dib and Zim called off their rivalry and Zim swore to give up on his ‘mission,’ they’d grown closer. Not just Dib and Zim, but Gaz as well. It turned out that the alien was actually very protective of anything and anyone that he even remotely cared about. He was starved for attention, and his outlandish, manic, destructive tendencies were caused by continued emotional and physical abuse from both his leaders and his entire race, stemming from the moment he was born simply due to his size. Over the course of their friendship, Zim started to mellow out now that he had attention that didn’t consist of hurtful words and cruel pranks. His inventions evolved from doomsday devices to things that were actually useful, like a pair of glasses he’d made Dib that had their own HUD and were practically indestructible, and the gaming system he’d made Gaz that contained every game on earth and even some from space. 

When Gaz learned that Dib was dead, and Zim was the one who killed him, part of her wanted him destroyed just as much as Membrane did, but after calming down some, she realized that there had to be something more to the story. Zim was her friend, and she would give him a chance to explain himself. She believed his story. Recently, Zim had opened up to her about the coding errors in his PAK. It was strange to learn that her friend was basically an Artificial Intelligence program that piloted an organic body, but they’d agreed that while some of the malfunctions were good, like the fact that his emotions weren’t completely regulated, others were less benign. She’d witnessed one of Zim’s blackouts before, though he wasn’t violent during it, she could definitely believe that it could happen. It was a relief to Gaz to know that Zim’s friendship with Dib and her was genuine, and he didn’t actually murder her brother in cold blood. And now he was saying that he had a way to bring Dib back, and Gaz wasn’t going to let the opportunity slip by just because her Father couldn’t see the good in Zim like she could. If Zim said that he could fix his mistake, then he was telling the truth. Gaz just had to pry the information from him, like always.

Gaz let go of her father’s leg and took a step closer to Zim. 

“Zim… you keep saying that you’ll fix this, but you can’t just- _ fix _ death.” Gaz said quietly. Zim didn’t so much as twitch. “I don’t know how it is with Irkens, but when a human dies, it’s permanent. You know just as well as I do that bringing back the dead doesn’t work. Dib is dead, and I don’t think I could stand to see him die again as some horrible zombie.” Gas’s voice cracked at the end, and she wrapped her arms around herself and her whole body shuddered, horrified just imagining her brother as a shambling reanimated corpse doomed to rot away all the same. 

“Dib is gone. You need to accept that.”

_ That _ got a reaction.

Zim made a desperate, strangled noise and sprung up from his submissive bow to pin Gaz with a furious glare. “No! Zim will _ not _ accept that Dib is gone forever!” The alien snarled. He had a wild look in his magenta eyes. Gaz knew that look. “I will not rest until my mistake has been righted! If it’s the last thing Zim does, then so be it! Dib deserves to live more than a pitiful defective like me does. It’s not fair that he can’t have that opportunity, all because of me! I will bring him back! I ** _will!_ ** _ ” _Zim shouted to the heavens, head thrown back and claws splayed in that determined, mad scientist way he always adopted when he had a diabolical plan.

“How could you possibly bring my son back?” Membrane asked, voice cold and sharp. He wouldn’t let his hopes up only to be dashed a moment later. He didn’t think could handle it. “Gaz is right, reanimating a corpse only creates an empty shell. It wouldn’t be Dib, only a zombie, driven by instinct and nothing more. Don’t make promises you can’t keep, alien.” He growled.

Zim looked up at the scientist with his unsettling, pupil-less magenta eyes. They glinted with fiery determination, tears long dry to make way for something decidedly unhinged. The alien’s thin lips stretched almost grotesquely into a wide, crooked grin, showing each and every one of his deceptively sharp zipper-like teeth. 

“Oh, Zim can keep this promise. I have a plan, and I will not fail. I refuse to! Zim knows that you can’t bring back the dead, so Zim will just stop Dib from dying in the first place!” The alien cackled madly, and Membrane finally caught a glimpse of the true wold-domineering alien Dib had told him so much about. Then, as abruptly as it came, the evil alien persona was gone as Zim calmed, and he was serious once again. “Zim has spent all day modifying the Time Displacement Portal. I built it a year ago with the sole purpose of wiping Dib from existence, but now I will use it to _ save _ him!”

Gaz lit up with recognition. “The time machine you told us about? The one with the rubber piggies?!” She gasped excitedly. Her little flare of hope was stoked into a roaring flame.

“Wait, you actually built a machine that allows you to time travel?” Membrane asked incredulously. “Time travel is only possible in theory, and anyone who would want to change the past would have to be an stark-raving moron!”

Gaz snickered. “Yep. That’s Zim.”

Zim ignored her and instead nodded at Membrane. “Yes. Zim succeeded in making the time portal. His plan to erase Dib backfired, luckily, but the machine works. Come with Zim, I will show you. My work is nearly done.” The alien said, already backing away toward the kitchen. “Come, you can help me finish modifications, Membrane. This will bring back your son, Zim swears.”

Gaz gave an excited whoop and hurried after Zim, but stopped at the threshold of the kitchen. She turned back to her father, who had yet to move from his spot. Membrane was biting his lip, a lost, conflicted expression on his face as he stared after the alien. Gaz sighed.

“Dad.” Membrane’s gaze lowered to her, and she gave him a look of sympathy. “It will be okay. Zim may be incompetent, but his inventions are brilliant and they always work.” She walked back over to her father and grabbed his hand, tugging on it to get the unresponsive man to walk with her. “I trust Zim. I know you don’t, but you can trust _ me _ , can’t you? What do we have to lose? We have to _ try _, dad.” She began to sound desperate, and she pulled harder on his arm.

Membrane didn’t want to put any hope or faith in the alien. It was the reason that Dib was dead. If this plan failed, if he had to see his son die yet again, Membrane was sure that he would go mad. However, looking at Gaz’s shining, hopeful eyes, he knew that he had no choice. There really was nothing to lose, was there?

“Alright, Gaz. I hope you’re right. I really do.”

Membrane let his daughter lead him into the kitchen, where Zim was waiting next to where the kitchen table used to be, tapping his little foot impatiently. There was an opening in the floor, a high-tech lift of some kind by the look of it. Membrane allowed himself to feel just a little hope. 

Maybe Zim was telling the truth. Maybe they could bring Dib back. Maybe this nightmare could end. Maybe, just maybe, Membrane would get a second chance to be a good father.

God, he hoped so.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WE HAVE HOPE!!!!
> 
> Also!!! good news for those who read my other fics, a new chapter of Ghosts Gotta Stick Together will be posted soon!!! keep an eye out for that!


	3. Reparations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Deep within Zim’s base the Professor descended, learning more about Zim and his relationship with his children as he went. Maybe he would spare the little alien. Maybe. IF this worked.
> 
> (Sorry for the literal year of waiting oof. I don’t even have an explanation other than simply: ‘2020’. No illustration this time, sorry! I might add one later tho.)

The trip down the lift to the lab was an awkward, cramped one. Though Gaz was around the same size as Zim, Membrane was a very large human, nearly seven feet tall, so it was a tight squeeze despite the fact that the lift they were using was the biggest one in the base. No one spoke the whole way down, but once the doors opened to reveal the massive cavern that was Zim’s lab, Membrane couldn’t help but gasp aloud.

“This is incredible.” He whispered to himself as he turned slowly in a circle, careful not to trip as Gaz and Zim moved past him. He took in the high ceiling covered in wires and cables, some thicker than he was tall, and the vast amount of technology so new and foreign to him. Zim must’ve heard him, because the little alien chuckled.

“Dib thought so too.” Zim said, a fond smile on his face. “The first time I let him in here on friendly terms, it took me three days to get him to leave. Eventually, Zim just had the computer fabricate a room for him down here.” 

Zim spoke with warmth in his voice, but then his smile dropped and he halted his steady march. He gazed forlornly at one section of the lab, where a bomb of unfinished projects seemed to have gone off, because it was much less organized than the rest of the lab. Membrane recognized a few of the disassembled gadgets as some of his own rejected inventions that Dib had expressed interest in. The man realized with a pang in his heart that this must’ve been Dib’s designated workstation.

“After… after realizing what I’d done, I thought long and hard about what a life on earth without Dib would be like. It made me realize a few things.” Zim said in a quiet, hoarse voice. 

“Dib was the one who helped me realize that my mission was a lie. He helped me break my conditioning, my very programming, to defy my nature and my Tallests. I gave him a lot of shit over it, at the time, but my life has been… fulfilling since then. I’m no longer striving for the attention of people who don’t care about me or deserve my efforts. I have friends who genuinely like me for who I am now.” 

Zim looked up at Gaz, his eyes wide and watery, but soft in a way that she’d never seen before.

“You became precious to Zim, Gaz. You and Dib. You both cared about me in a way no one else has before. You showed me that I could have a real life here on this ball of dirt you call home. But…” 

Zim trailed off and bowed his head. He gazed down at his shaky hands with glazed eyes, a few stray tears streaking down his cheeks. He spoke in a broken whisper,

“An earth that doesn’t have Dib on it? That’s not somewhere that I can live. That isn’t  _ home _ .”

Zim’s voice cracked at the end of his sentence, and it echoed through the suddenly silent lab. It seemed as though even the constant humming of machinery was gone. It dawned on Membrane in that moment that Zim truly did love Dib. He cared for both of the youngest Membranes very deeply, and he was hurting just as much as they were over Dib’s death. Possibly even more so due to his being the cause of it, though it was out of his control. Membrane had no right to judge the alien, and he certainly had no right to be his jury and executioner.

Zim let out a little startled squeak when a large gloved hand rested on his head between his antennae. He looked up Membrane, ruby eyes wide with confusion and a bit of fear. The tall scientist looked down at the tense alien with a soft gaze instead of a steely one, and he offered a little smile and a nod. Zim’s antennae perked up and his eyes widened when he understood the man’s silent message. He’d be spared from his wrath. Zim gave a wobbly smile in return and made a relieved little chirp noise.

Membrane patted the alien’s smooth head once before striding past him and headed deeper into the lab. 

“So, tell me about this time machine of yours.”

Zim scrambled after Membrane and took the lead once again, but not before making sure Gaz was still following close behind. He fell into stride just ahead of the tall scientist, seemingly back to his confident self, and began to explain,

“I’ve been working on modifying the time displacement portal for the past ten hours.” He said. “Simply replacing an existing object from the past leaves far too much room for failure. Zim will not stand for failure, not in this. I’ve been trying to find a way to both make myself compatible with time travel, and negate the need to replace an object and simply travel freely through the portal. I’m sure that I’ve discovered a way, but I could use your help with the calculations, Membrane.”

Zim paused and realized what he’d just said. The alien puffed up and gave an exaggerated huff. “Feel honored, human! The mighty Zim is allowing you to assist him with your  _ inferior _ intellect!” He crowed, embarrassment obvious in the way that he fidgeted and the darker spots of green on his cheeks.

“I’ll see what I can do.” The Professor said, amused.

Membrane didn’t let it show, but he was impressed. Time travel was only possible in theory to humans, and yet this little alien built a time machine a  _ year _ ago. He felt the beginnings of excitement bubble up in his chest at the thought of tinkering with such a device, but he squashed the feeling before it became obvious. He may have decided to spare the alien, but that didn’t mean that he trusted him in any capacity.

Zim led the two humans through the labyrinth-like series of cavernous rooms that made up his lab until they entered a slightly smaller chamber. It was similar to all the others in how the walls were covered in massive cables and tubes, but they all converged on a single circular machine located against the wall opposite the entrance. 

Membrane figured that this was the time displacement portal. It sure was portal-shaped. Along the large ring of dark purple metal were lights that glowed an ominous pink, and to the side of it was a terminal with two screens and various levers and flashing buttons. There was a ramp leading into the portal, and just in front of that ramp was a table upon which a messy setup of computers, tablets, and other devices that were obviously alien in origin sat. They were all connected to the portal and terminal with colorful wires and nodes that fed the computer screens information written in a language that Membrane didn’t understand.

Zim walked up to the cobbled setup and began clacking away on multiple keyboards, muttering under his breath. Membrane moved to stand next to him, and the little alien was too engrossed in his work to tense or otherwise acknowledge him as a threat. 

“These terminals are monitoring the portal’s output. This one,” Zim tapped a few keys on one of the computers and the information scrolling across it became legible for the two humans, “is monitoring space-time continuum stability. We need to keep an eye on it at all times once we start running simulations.” 

Without looking away from the screens, Zim snatched up one of the tablets teetering precariously on the edge of the gadget and wire-strewn surface and thrust it at Membrane. “This is the formula I have so far. We need to adjust it for an organic life form of your stature, but I think it will allow me to stabilize the portal enough to give us entry without the need to replace objects in the past. If you would look it over, Zim would be very grateful.”

Membrane took the strange tablet from Zim’s claws and scrolled through the pages and pages of equations and formulas. It was very impressive, especially if the little alien really had only been working on it for less than a day. The man began to mentally go over the information and check for any mistakes or potential complications.

While he did that, Zim dragged two contraptions off the table and laid them along the floor. Membrane looked up from his tablet and scrutinized the devices. They looked like clunky metal belts, with large square sections between each hinge, also made of the same strange purple metal most things in the lab seemed to be composed of. Zim hooked the two belts up to one of the dormant monitors on the table via twin pink cables. 

“What are those?” Membrane asked curiously.

Zim didn’t look up from his work prying open the metal squares that turned out to be compartments filled with blinking lights and circuit boards. “If my calculations are correct, these will allow us to enter the portal unimpeded.” 

Gaz walked over and nudged one of the metal links with her foot, ignoring Zim’s warning hiss. 

“Why are there only two? I’m coming too, right?” She asked. 

Both Membrane and Zim shouted at the same time, horrified at the thought, 

“NO!”

Gaz startled a little at the twin shouts, but quickly recovered to pin the two scientists with one of her infamous glares. “Why not?” She growled.

Zim met her glare unflinchingly. “Gaz-beast, I’m sure that your father-unit agrees with Zim when I say this, but you need to stay behind. I won’t endanger another of my closest friends again. You’re far too important to Zim. You have to understand,” he implored. “I suspect that my PAK went into emergency combat mode during my blackout that night. That means that Zim’s PAK went into overdrive in a last-ditch effort to protect its host because it interpreted the situation as a life or death scenario. I know you can hold your own against me in a spar, Gaz. I’m not saying that you’re weak because we both know you’re not, but listen to me when I say that nothing but another irken can survive more than ten minutes head to head with an irken in emergency combat mode. A PAK running a base program can’t be reasoned with, and it will strike you down just as swiftly as it did Dib.”

Zim’s usually bombastic voice was low and serious with an undercurrent of desperation. Gaz had only ever heard him talk like that once in her life, and considering that the entire world nearly ended that day, she was inclined to listen. She broke eye contact with a huff.

“Fine. I’m going to go play video games with Gir. Call me if you need any coding done.”

Zim visibly relaxed, relieved that she wasn’t going to argue with him. “Gir is in his containment room. I didn’t want him to…  _ interfere _ when I offered you my technology and then myself for judgement. I was convinced that I’d be deactivated by your parental unit, but he’s shown me mercy. Eh, right?” Zim turned uncertain eyes up at Membrane, who was watching their interaction curiously. The man gave an affirming nod.

Gaz gave Zim a nasty stink eye. “You were just going to  _ let _ my dad kill you?” At Zim’s sheepish nod, she sighed, exasperated. “You’re still the biggest idiot I know, spacebug. You better not get yourself killed in that portal, okay? It would suck to survive my dad’s wrath only to die an hour later.” She grouched, but both Membrane and Zim knew what she was trying to say.

Zim slowly rose from the floor to stand eye to eye with Gaz, expression soft. Sad. “I can’t guarantee my own safety, Gaz. If I have to kill my past self and be erased from time to save Dib, I will do so with dignity not as an Irken soldier, but as a defender of earth.” 

Zim gave Gaz a short, neat salute. Arm diagonal across his chest and antennae wiggling atop his head. There must’ve been some significance to the gesture, because Gaz stiffened and her eyes went wide. The girl stared at him for a moment before suddenly darting forward and hugging the little alien tightly.

“Just- just promise you’ll try to come out of there alive, Zim. You’re important to me too, you know.” Gaz whispered tearfully, voice cracking.

Zim smiled sadly and returned the hug, nuzzling into Gaz’s hair affectionately. “I will try, Gaz. Zim promises.” He slowly let go of the girl after a few moments and nudged her toward the exit. “Go play with Gir. He’s probably torn up his containment room by now and he’ll be very happy to see you. Your father-unit and I have got this.” 

Gaz sniffled and nodded. She darted over to Membrane to give him a quick hug before running from the room. Both alien and human watched her retreat and stared for a while out into the cavernous chambers of the lab beyond. A contemplative silence filled the room for a long moment after she was gone.

Membrane turned his gaze down at Zim. “You really care about my children, don’t you?” He asked, deep voice soft.

Zim returned his gaze fiercely and nodded. “More than anything in the universe. More than the Irken Empire, more than the Tallests. The earth is my home now, and your children are Zim’s family. I would die for them, I realize that now.”

Membrane watched Zim closely and saw the truth of his words in the way the alien’s voice was soft and fond as he spoke, and how his ruby eyes glistened with emotion. The man cleared his throat a little and reached out to awkwardly pat the little green creature on the head.

“You know, I think having an alien as part of our family won’t be so bad.” Membrane said with a small smile.

Zim gaped up at the human, shocked, before he positively beamed, eyes shining with gratitude. He gave a happy little trill. “Zim would be honored, Membrane-human.” He chirped. “Dib has told me so much about how you’re the smartest, most influential human on earth, and so very tall. With your help, we’ll have this portal running in no time. Dib really looks up to you, and for someone as smart as him to hold you in such high regard, then it all must be true.”

If he didn’t know any better, Membrane would think that Zim was buttering him up, but something stood out to him.

“Dib... really said that? About me?” He asked quietly. Something wrapped around his heart and squeezed.

Zim didn’t seem to notice his shift in tone, because the alien just smiled and nodded. He sat down on the floor next to the two belt-like devices and dragged one into his lap. “Yes. Dib talks about you all the time. It’s very annoying, actually. He really loves you.” 

The alien said it light-heartedly, but the words might as well have been daggers because Membrane felt a sharp pain in his heart. To be told so casually that Dib had loved him, even to the very end, despite how Membrane treated him and looked down on him was like a kick to the gut. 

When was the last time  _ he _ told his kids he loved them?

Membrane realized with an awful, painful sinking feeling that he couldn’t remember. He loved his children. He really, really did, even though he realized now that he never showed it. Or said it. It was like his brain was hardwired to only retain long-term information relevant to his work and nothing else. 

Zim, unaware of Membrane’s guilty conscience, was diligently rewiring one of the metal belts on the floor. He clicked the panels of the belt back into place and held it up to compare to Membrane’s much larger figure. The little alien ‘hmm’d and tilted his head from side to side, measuring up the other scientist.

“I’ll have to add a few links if this is to fit you.” He muttered to himself.

Membrane didn’t hear him. He was too deep in his thoughts, trying desperately to remember important things any father should know, but they just slipped through his fingers like fine sand. It was harrowing to realize just how much he missed, how much he ignored when it came to his children. Dib, especially. 

How he yearned to hold Dib in his arms again. To hug him. Tell him how much he loved him. How sorry he was. God, he was so sorry. He would denounce science and live as a hermit for the rest of his life if he could just see his little boy one more time. His chest felt tight and his heart  _ burned _ with the force of his grief. 

The silence of the lab didn’t help Membrane’s continued spiral into guilt and despair, the only sound the quiet noises of Zim’s tinkering. One scientist absorbed in his work to achieve the impossible, and the other absorbed in memories that seemed so faded that he yearned to recall.

Just before he could completely lose his composure, Membrane was startled out of his dark thoughts by Zim,

“Membrane-human, after we save the Dib, will he eventually grow to be as tall as you?” Zim asked suddenly, breaking the silence.

It took Membrane a few moments of staring at Zim before the question even registered. The confidence in which Zim said  _ ‘after _ we save the Dib’ rekindled Membrane’s hope. He forgot in his despair that he  _ would _ get to see his son again. He would be able to tell him how loved he was, and all the other things Membrane had failed in so far. The scientist shook off the last of his despair like clinging cobwebs in order to answer Zim’s strange question.

“If he stays healthy and stops eating nothing but chips and coffee for a week straight during research binges, then he should grow to be as tall as I am in his adulthood, yes. Maybe even taller, who knows.” 

Membrane smiled a little, imagining the amazing, successful adult his son was sure to become one day. Because of this alien’s technology, he would be able to see that happen. Membrane turned his smile down at said alien. 

“Why do you ask?” It was an odd question, after all. 

Zim waved one hand dismissively. “Nothing, really. Height is just very important in Irken culture and I want the best for Dib. He deserves to  _ tower above his enemiiies. _ ” Zim oddly dragged out his words near the end there, making his voice sound both sinister and ridiculous. 

Membrane nearly barked a laugh at the alien’s strange antics. He was endearing in an annoying sort of way. It was almost alarming how quickly Zim had gone from enemy number one to an ally in such a short time. 

“Important in your culture, huh? Then what about you, Zim? how tall will  _ you _ get?” Membrane asked. He was curious about the alien, of course. He was a scientist after all. He’d like to learn about how different his people were compared to humans.

Zim snorted bitterly, a true feat considering he didn’t have a nose. “I’m fully grown, unfortunately. Zim will never get any taller than this unless your terribly polluted earth water ends up mutating me after too much exposure.” He chuckled and shook his head with a longing sigh.

That made Membrane‘s thoughts grind to a halt. Fully grown? But Zim was absolutely  _ tiny _ . Sure, so were his children, but they were exactly that.  _ Children _ . The scientist, intrigued and alarmed, was quick to further question Zim. “Fully grown?” He parroted. “Zim, how old are you, exactly?”

Zim didn’t even look up from his gadget and chirped a chipper, “146!”

Membrane spluttered a bit once the alien’s answer dawned on him, trying to wrap his head around the number Zim had so flippiantly tossed at him as if he were talking about the weather. “And you… _go_ _to school_ with my son?” Membrane choked out. “That doesn’t… seem very appropriate for someone of your age. I’m not sure I’m comfortable with my _twelve year old son _hanging around with-” 

Membrane abruptly snapped his mouth shut, reminding himself that this alien was giving him the means to see his son alive again. Not to mention that Zim seemed to really care about his children a great deal and he had no basis or right to assume that he had ill intentions. “What I mean is, he needs to spend more time developing social skills with kids his own age!” He quickly backtracked in the hopes that Zim wasn’t offended by his near accusation. 

The sound of tinkering stopped. Zim stared down at the gadget in his lap silently, shoulders tense. Membrane worried that he did offend Zim, and the feeling only grew worse when the alien slowly looked up at him, and he saw the withering glare he was being given. Anger burned scorchingly in those magenta depths. Then, Zim opened his mouth and said in a low, dangerous voice,

“Dib is thirteen.”

Membrane froze at the unexpected response, and felt his heart drop to his stomach.

Zim continued without pause, “His birthday was seven weeks ago. He told me that turning thirteen was significant for human smeets and he was excited to spend it with his family… but you weren’t there. ”

The anger burning in Zim’s eyes was on behalf of Dib, Membrane realized. Despite how amicable Zim was with him earlier, it was clear to the scientist now that he wasn’t unaware of Membrane’s deplorable parenting skills. The look on the little alien’s face told of fierce protectiveness and a deep grudge, and Membrane wondered how often Dib had to turn to his friend for comfort in his absence. It was incredibly insensitive and rude of him to even imply that Zim was doing wrong by being Dib’s friend, especially considering everything he’s recently learned about the alien. It seems that this creature has been looking after his children for the past several months in his absence. He didn’t know whether to feel grateful or jealous.

After a few beats of tense silence, Zim closed his eyes and took a deep breath, then let it out slowly. He looked back up at Membrane, and while the anger was still present, he mostly just looked tired. 

“I have no right to judge you, especially after you showed me mercy, but let me get one thing straight, Membrane-human.” Zim said flatly, maintaining fierce eye contact. “You take this second chance Zim is so graciously giving you, and you do right by him. Dib and Gaz deserve a good leader. A good father. If you continue treating them the way you always have, there  _ will _ be consequences.” Zim flashed him a grin that was more a show of his sharp teeth than anything else. “Are we clear?”

Membrane couldn’t even bring himself to feel outraged by the blatant threat. Instead, he was once again lost in his head, replaying Zim’s words over and over.  _ You weren’t there. _

If Dib had never died, if he’d never had this rude awakening, how long would he have gone on treating them as if he didn’t care about them? He really did care about and love them, but obviously he didn’t show it nearly as well as he thought he did. At what point would he see that how he was treating them was wrong without something as terrible as death to make him realize? Membrane was now able to recognize how ignorant he was before, and how likely it was that he would remain that way without outside interference. 

How long would it take for his kids to finally resent him as he rightfully deserved? It would likely be the moment they weren’t completely dependent on him as their caregiver. Maybe even before then. He was a lousy caregiver, after all. Would they cut all ties with him? Let him age and die a lonely, stubborn old man with no contact? 

His kids would go on to change the world, he knew. They were so smart and intuitive. Much more open-minded than he was. They would far surpass him. They could easily leave him in the dust. That thought scared Membrane. He didn’t want to quietly fade into the background, he didn’t want to be forgotten by the world, by his own children. It was what he deserved, yes, but that was one of his greatest fears. 

It might be selfish, but he was going to do everything he could to do right by his kids so such a future would never happen.

Zim was watching him with narrowed eyes. One of his antennae was twitching again and his claws tapped an irritated rhythm against the lab floor. The sound drew Membrane’s attention and he realized that he’d been quiet for a while. Zim was waiting for an answer. The Professor drew himself up and looked earnestly down at the tiny alien, expression solemn.

“I understand. I promise I’ll do better.” He swore. “I’ll do it right this time, I swear.”

Zim continued to stare at Membrane with narrow eyed scrutiny for an uncomfortable amount of time after his affirmation. His otherworldly eyes bore into Membrane’s bespectacled ones as if he could see into his mind and heart. Finally, Zim smiled and gave the tall human a nod.

“I’m pleased to hear that. I’ll of course be  _ ‘hanging around’ _ often to make sure you keep your promise. Just in case.” He said with a hint of a challenge in his voice as he almost glared up at the much taller being. 

The message was clear, no matter what Membrane thought of him, Zim was here to stay. Feeling sheepish, the man chuckled nervously and opened his mouth to apologize for his earlier accusatory comment, but before he could, Zim just grinned and laughed at his obvious discomfort.

“Don’t worry yourself, I have no intentions of harming Dib ever again. I have ideas for failsafes to be installed in my PAK to prevent another tragedy. I want to see your son grow to his full potential. He’s already strong and smart, after all he’s bested me, an Irken invader, time and time again. I want to see him crush competition and his enemies beneath his feet! He will take the Earth and the stars by storm with me to guide him, Membrane, just you watch!” Zim crowed passionately, shaking his fists at the ceiling dramatically.

Membrane couldn’t help but agree, even if the way Zim said it sounded a bit more sinister than he’d have liked. It seemed that he talked that way quite often. He also just talked a lot in general. Membrane figured that he liked the sound of his own voice. 

“If it’s any consolation,” Zim continued, smiling to himself as he returned his attention to the devices in his lap, “Irkens live for thousands of our home planet rotations. In terms of development, I’m still considered a juvenile. How did Dib like to put it...” Zim trailed off, tapping a claw against his chin thoughtfully. “Ah, yes. I’m ‘less of an ancient wizened being from beyond stars and more of a dumbass reckless teenager with a fake ID.’” Zim chuckled, fondness evident in his tone. 

Membrane did feel a little reassurance, but more from the reminder that Zim and Dib were close enough to tease and joke with each other. He was convinced that Dib’s death truly was an accident, but therein lies the issue. It was an accident that Zim couldn’t control, an accident that could very well happen again. Zim said something about failsafes, but considering the alien’s apparent lack of self-preservation when it came to Dib’s well-being- case in point: offering himself up to Membrane for judgement- the scientist was skeptical of how  _ safe _ these ‘failsafes’ would be for  _ Zim _ .

He’d have to keep an eye on that if Zim was going to be sticking around. He knew his kids would be devastated if he were to forbid Zim from seeing them, so he wanted to make sure that the alien was safe for them to be around, but he didn’t want it to be at the risk of Zim’s well-being, either. The little guy had grown on Membrane already, and from the short interaction with Gaz he’d seen, he could tell that he was good with them. 

The way Zim talked about his ‘programming’ made it sound like his brain wasn’t completely organic, like it was a computer, and every computer could be reprogrammed. Membrane was the world’s leading scientist and inventor, he was sure that he could find a way to help Zim fix his coding issues. He wouldn’t offer that now, though. He needed to focus on getting Dib back. After all, what would be the point if Dib wasn’t there? If this plan failed… Membrane didn’t even let that thought finish. He refused to believe that Dib was gone forever. This had to work. He had so much he needed to do, needed to say to Dib. The man’s resolve hardened and he looked down at the alien diligently working away on the floor.

“So, how long until we can start running simulations?” Membrane asked, voice sure and strong in the silence of the lab.

Zim clicked the last panel on the belts back into place and grinned wide. “Right now, actually!” He exclaimed. He deftly jumped to his feet and held up the two long devices. “I’ve recalibrated them. I’m sure they will keep our cells from dying or our molecules from being torn apart when we enter the portal!” He said it with a proud, if albeit deranged, grin.

The possible threat of imminent death didn’t even phase Membrane. He’d done his fair share of dubious science and nearly died because of it on multiple occasions. Nothing could stop him from trying to get his son back now, not even death by molecular decay. 

Membrane returned Zim’s grin with one just as maniacal and gave a firm nod. The warmth of hope in his chest stoked into a roaring flame of determination. Not even the scientific excitement of being the first human to time travel could outmatch the sheer desperate joy he felt at the thought of seeing Dib again.

“Lets get my son back.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes there will be one more chapter. This one turned out to be much longer than I thought so I had to split it into two.

**Author's Note:**

> IT HAS A HAPPY ENDING I S W E A R!!!!!!!!


End file.
